Apparatus for printing and drying rotatable objects

ABSTRACT

A high speed printing apparatus wherein a round article sucked into the pocket of a rotatory transport drum by means of suction force is brought into rotating contact with a transfer roll to receive an impression to be printed thereon. The printed impression is then dried by air flowing around the article which is held in the pocket under suction. The printing and drying are simultaneously carried out without involving undue movement of the article.

United States Patent 11 1 Taniguchi 14 1 Nov. 26, 1974 APPARATUS FOR PRINTING AND DRYING ROTATABLE OBJECTS [75] Inventor: Shin-Ichi Taniguchi, Nara, Japan [73] Assignee: Takeda Chemical Industries, Ltd.,

Osaka, Japan 22 Filed: Feb. 12,1973

21 App1.No.:331,88l

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 14, 1972 Japan 47-15491 [52] US. Cl. 101/40, 198/22 B, 198/25, 198/34, 198/210 [51] Int. Cl B41f 17/22 [58] Field of Search 101/35, 3840; 198/179, 210, 34, 25, 22

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,411,854 12/1946 Friden 101 40x 2,837,042 6/1958 Laval, Jr. 198/210 X 3,066,784 12/1962 Remington et al 101/40 UX 3,273,691 9/1966 Griner 198/25 X 3,424,082 1/1969 Gray, Jr. 101/40 Primary ExaminerClifford D. Crowder Attorney, Agent, or FirmWenderoth, Lind & Ponack [5 7] ABSTRACT A high speed printing apparatus wherein a round article sucked into the pocket ofv a rotatory transport drum by means of suction force is brought into rotating contact with a transfer roll to receive an impression to be printed thereon. The printed impression is then dried by air flowing around the article which is held in the pocket under suction. The printing and drying are simultaneously carried out without involving undue movement of the article.

4 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures PAH-INTEL nuv 2 61974 .snzni or 4 FIG. 2

PATENTEL MW 2 81974 SHEET 2 nr 4 FIG. 7

PATENTELHBVZSIW 3,850,098

SHEET 3 or 4 5 APPARATUS FOR PRINTING AND DRYING ROTATABLE OBJECTS The present invention relates to an apparatus for high speed printing of names, trademarks, or other information on the curved surface of ampoules, capsules, or other similar approximately cylindrical containers (below abbreviated to ampoules) in succession.

There have been developed devices for printing on ampoules whereby ampoules have printing imparted to them by being turned while being held under pressure against a transfer roll by mechanical drive means. While such devices are effective in many respects, they have the disadvantage that the rate at which ampoules can be dealt with is, at most, about 230 per minute. If it is attempted to exceed this rate with conventional devices, it is found that their operation becomes unsatisfactory; the reasons for this limitation on the rate of operation are generally the problems of the drying of the ink, which tends to get smudged in the subsequent process in conventional devices, and also mechanical problems in connection with drive means.

However, in other processes in a plant manufacturing, or otherwise dealing with, ampoules, the rate at which ampoules can be dealt with is much higher. For the printing stage to keep pace with the other processes, its efficiency needs to be raised so that 250400 ampoules per minute are dealt with. With conventional devices this improved rate is not possible, with the result that generally in ampoule production plants the production rate as a whole is slowed down by the printing stage.

Accordingly, an essential object of the present invention is to provide a high speed printing apparatus which can perform printing operations using material which needs to dry once transferred to a surface, on the outer surface of ampoules fed in succession, with substantial elimination of the above mentioned disadvantages inherent in the conventional device of similar character.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a high speed printing apparatus which makes use of ajudicious combination of low pressure for sucking ampoules and incoming air to the low pressure passing around the outer surface of ampoules in order to place them at certain positions and to impart printed impressions on them and, further, to effectively dry the printed impressions on ampoules, all being performed in one single process, without involving undue movement of the ampoules.

According to the present invention, there is provided a high speed printing apparatus which essentially comprises a hollow rotatory transport drum which is in connection with a decompression device which produces a vacuum or low pressure inside the drum; the drum has a plurality of concave grooves or pockets formed at equal intervals around the periphery of the drum and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the drive shaft thereof. Ampoules fitted into these pockets are held therein by the suction force produced by the low pressure chamber, and the proportions of the pockets are made such that slits are formed between the inner surfaces of the pockets and the outer surfaces of the ampoules held therein; on one side, these slits are in communication with the atmosphere, and on the other with the low pressure chamber. Ampoules in the drum pockets are carried rapidly and smoothly by the rotation of the drum through a stage where they are successively pressed against a transfer roll and have printed on them a name, or any other required information. In the invention, holding of the ampoules, printing, and drying of ink are carried out in one smooth operation, which is rapid, but without any undue shaking of the ampoules, since the speed of the operation depends merely on the speed of rotation of the drum, and while ampoules are on the drum they are held firmly in the pockets therein. Particularly to be noted in this invention is the fact that there are slits between the ampoules and the interior surfaces in which they are held; these slits being in communication both with the atmosphere and with the low pressure chamber in the drum, air flows rapidly around and past the ampoules carried in the pockets, with the result that any inked impressions imparted to them are rapidly dried. In striking contrast with the rate of 230/minute achievable with conventional apparatus, the device of the present invention makes it possible to deal with 400, or even as many as 600, ampoules per minute.

These and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which;

FIG. 1 is a top plane view, partially broken away, of a high speed printing arrangement and its associated parts according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along the line IIII of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken along the line IIIIII of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a top plane view, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of a transfer roll shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view, on an enlarged scale, ofa pocket for illustrating the drying process of an ampoule shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 6 is a front elevational view, partially broken away, of a high speed printing apparatus according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view taken along the line VII-VII of FIG. 6,

FIG. 8 is a front elevational view, partially broken away, of a high speed printing apparatus according to a further preferred embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view taken along the line IXIX of FIG. 8,

FIG. 10 is a cross sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken along the line XX of FIG. 8,

FIG. 11 is a similar view to FIG. 10 showing a cross section taken along the line XI-XI of FIG. 8, and

FIG. 12 is a similar view to FIG. 10 showing a cross section taken along the line XII-XII of FIG. 8.

Before the description of the present invention proceeds, it is to be noted that like parts are designated by the like reference numerals throughout the several views of the accompanying drawings. It is to be noted that the concept of the present invention as well as its ampoule printing apparatus herein disclosed as preferred embodiments can be applied in any field of industry including the pharmaceutical industry, for example, in connection with a cylindrical article to be printed and the like if such article is arranged as herein disclosed.

A basic construction and operation of a high speed printing apparatus to which the present invention can be applicable will be first described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

An apparatus so far shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 comprises a transport drum provided around its periphery with a plurality of pockets 11 each receiving and sucking an ampoule therein with a space therebetween for passing air for both drying and suction, said drum being rotated at a constant speed in one direction by a drive means 12, a transfer roll 13 situated at a point adjacent to the rotatory path of the transport drum 10 and being brought into contact with and rotating each ampoule A held in the pockets 11 so as to print information on the outer surface of the ampoule A while rotating together with the transport drum 10, means 14 for supplying ampoules A to be printed one by one into the pocket 11 of the transport drum 10, and means 15 for removing ampoules A printed from the transport drum 10.

The transport drum 10 is formed as a hollow disk having a cylindrical drive shaft 16 at its centre, whose interior is in connection with a blower, or other suitable decompression device 17 through the drive shaft 16. The drive shaft 16 is journaled on a bearing 18 in a vertical direction while rotatably coupled at its free end with the conduit of the decompression device 17 by means of a coupling 19 and fixedly provided on its outer surface with a gear 20 which is driven by a reduction motor or other suitable driving means 21 in the clockwise direction. Within the transport drum 10 is formed a low pressure chamber 22 which is in connection with an opening hole 23 provided on the drive shaft 16 and in which chamber low pressure is induced by means of the decompression device 17 through the hole 23 during rotation of the transport drum 10. Around the outer periphery of the transport drum 10 are provided a plurality of pockets 11 at equal intervals which are approximately semicircular in section as shown in FIG. 4, and in which ampoules A are inserted and held parallel to the longitudinal axis of the drum drive shaft 19. Each pocket 11 may be thought of as composed of three portions along the axis of the transport drum 10, which are two end portions 24, 24 of a radius approximately equal to the external radius of an ampoule held thereon, and a central portion 25, across the end portions, of a radius slightly larger than those of the end portions, for example, by about 0.1-0.5 mm. and of length slightly longer than that of a middle portion to be printed of the ampoule A spaced to the central portion 25. There is one passage 26 for each pocket 11, one end of which opens into the large diameter central portion of a pocket 11 while its other end is in communication with the low pressure chamber 22 within the transport drum 10.

The supply means 14 comprises a belt conveyor 27 with ampoule-guide boards 28a, 28b which feeds ampoules A successively into the pockets 1] of the transport drum 10 rotated by the driving means 21. The take-off end of the belt conveyor 27 is positioned adjacent to and under the outer periphery of the transport drum 10, and as the transport drum 10 rotates, successive pockets 11 on its periphery are brought into line with the take-off end of the belt conveyor 27 so that ampoules A are fed along the ampoule-guide boards 28a, 28b towards the transport drum l0 and when a pocket 11 of the transport drum 10 comes opposite the take-off end of the belt conveyor 27 an ampoule A is pushed, or guided, into the pocket 11 and, thus, the ampoules A are successively fed into the pockets 11.

Each ampoule A is held in a pocket 11 in contact with two end portions 24, 24 by a suction force acting through the passage 26, but the ampoule A does not come into contact with the central portion 25 of the pocket, and thus there is formed, in effect, a slit S between the middle portion of the ampoules body and the central portion 25 of the pocket 11, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. Air from outside ,flows through the slit S via the passage 26 into the low pressure chamber 22, from which air is constantly withdrawn by the decompression device 17 through the drive shaft 16. Since the ampoule A is in direct contact on one side with the atmosphere and on its other side is in contact with the low pressure chamber 22 through the passage 26, pressure is, therefore, obviously greater against the outside surface of the ampoule A than against the inside surface and this difference of the pressure effectively holds the ampoule A in the pocket 11. However, the force holding an ampoule A in a pocket 11 need not be particularly large, but merely sufficient to stop the ampoule A from slipping or falling, and can be easily adjusted by varying the amount of pressure in the low pressure chamber 22 or the height or breadth of the slits, separately or in combination. Eventually, ampoules A held vertically in pockets 11 are rotated together with the transport drum 10 around the axis of drive shaft 16 in the direction as shown by an arrow in P10. 1.

The transfer roll 13 is situated at a point adjacent to the outer rotatory path of the transport drum 10 near the supply means 14, and is synchronously rotated with the transport drum 10 by means of interlocking gears 20a meshed with the gear 20. The transferred roll 13 is in contact with a printing roll 29 associated with an ink bottle 30. As each ampoule A held by suction in a pocket 11 is carried round by the rotation of the transport drum 10, it is brough to the location of, and into contact with the transfer roll 13. A necessary condition for an ampoule A to receive a clear printed impression from the transfer roll 13 being rotated, is that the transfer roll 13 imparts enough pressure on the ampoule A to cause it to rotate in the clockwise direction, synchronized with the rotation of the transfer roll 13. This condition is met if the following equation is satisfied.

where Pl =pressure between the transfer roll 13 and an ampoule A at the time of printing, P2 pressure for holding an ampoule A in a pocket 11, ul coefficient of friction between an ampoule A and the transfer roll 13, and u2 coefficient of friction between an ampoule A and a pocket 11. it is to be noted in this respect that if a2 is much less than ul, an'ampouie A can roll in a pocket 11, without there being any slip between the ampoule A and the transfer roll 13. To effect printing on ampoules A, or other containers therefore, it is merely necessary to select suitable materials for the manufacture of the transporting drum and the transfer roll 13, and to adjust the pressure, i.e., the pressure for holding an ampoule A in a pocket 11 and the pressure of the transfer roll 13 against an ampoule A, so that the above equation is satisfied. The factors to be varied in the above equation are all easily controllable, and it is therefore easy to ensure a smooth, accurate printing process. To take an example, for 2 cc. ampoules with the transport drum 10 made of nylon, the passages and the slits S being of a suitable size, and the pressure in the low pressure chamber 16 being around l0-20/1,000 kg/cm ampoules A loaded into pockets 11 are held therein by suction, and while thus held are brought into contact and rotate with the transfer roll 13 which prints an impression on them, in an efficient operation. With reference to the printing, the impression on an ampoules surface by the transfer roll 13 must not extend to that part of the ampoules surface that comes into contact with the end portions 24, 24 of the pocket 11, but may cover only that part of the ampoules surface which is clear of contact with the central portion 25 of the pocket 11. In other words, the impression must be printed on the-middle portion of the ampoules surface which lies opposite the slit S. If an ampoule A receives an impression from the transfer roll 13 at a point of its surface where the ampoule A touches the end portions 24, 24 of the pocket 11, the ink drying process, as described below, will be hindered, and the impression will be liable to be smudged, and the final results of printing on ampoules will be unsatisfactory.

Each ampoule, after receiving the impression from the transfer roll 13, is carried on past the location of the transfer roll 13 and along the rotatory path of the transport drum 10, the printed portion P of the ampoule A being faced to the central portion 25 of the pocket 11, preferably, the center of the printed portion P being confronted to the passage 26 of the pocket 11, as shown in FIG. 5. As it is carried along this path, it continues to be held by suction in a pocket 11 and, therefore, air is, as indicated with arrows in FIG. 5, flowing rapidly around the ampoule A through the slit S and the passage 26. This flow of air rapidly dries the wet ink printed on the ampoule A by the transfer roll 13, so that the drying process is extremely efficient with the drying time reduced to a value corresponding to 1/5 1/10 of that of conventional devices. As the ink on the ampoule A is thus being dried, the ampoule A is carried by the transport drum towards the removing means.

The removing means comprises a removal belt conveyor 31 positioned at the removal point under the transport drum 10 and a pair of guide-boards 32a, 32b positioned parallel to each other on opposite sides of the removal conveyor 31. The one guide-board 32a on the side of the conveyor is adjacent to the outer periphery of the transport drum 10 so that ampoules A first come thereto as they are carried round by the transport drum l0, and the other guide-board 32b on the other side of the conveyor is curved at its end in the direction of rotation of the transport drum l0 and extends over and beyond the periphery of the transport drum 10, as shown in FIG. 3. As each ampoule A comes to the removal point, it contacts the curved end of the guide board 3212, is released from the suction force holding it in its pocket 11, and is forced out of the pocket 11 onto the removal conveyor 15 between the guide-boards 32a, 32b and then carried and guided to the other end of the conveyor 31 and to the next process.

As described above, ampoules A are fed into the pockets of the rotatory transport drum 10, a printed impression is imparted to the ampoules by the transfer roll 13 and dried while the ampoules A are still in the pockets 11 of the transport drum 10, by air passing through the slit S and the ampoules A are then removed to the lower end of the removal conveyor 31, with their printed surfaces facing the same direction and ready for the next process, for example, packing.

From the foregoing, it has now become clear that printing with wet ink on the ampoule and drying the ink are carried out at a high speed in succession under the condition of holding the ampoule by means of the suction air.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 7, in which a second preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown, the only difference between the first and second embodiments resides in a method of supplying and removing ampoules from the transport drum. The transport drum in the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7 has its axis positioned in a horizontal direction. Even this cmbodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7 functions in substantially the same manner as in the foregoing embodiment without any reduction of the performance.

The supply means 14' of this embodiment comprises a rotatory plate 33 of the star wheel type having around its outer periphery a plurality of grooves 34 of semicircular cut-out form for holding ampoules A at the same intervals as the pocket 11 of the transport drum l0 and guide boards 35, 36 provided above and under the rotatory plate 33. The rotatory plate 33 is synchronously driven with the transport drum 10 on the same plane by the motor 21 through interlocking gear means 37 so as to engage each groove 34 of the rotatory plate 33 with a corresponding pocket 11 of the transport drum 10. An ampoule A held in the groove 34 of the rotatory plate 33 guided by guide boards 35, 36 is carried by the rotatory plate 33 until it reaches the pass-on point, where there is simultaneously a pocket 11 of the transport drum 10 and, as the suction force is applied in the pocket 11 through the passage 26, is transferred from the groove 34 to the pocket 11 at the pass-on point, and is thereafter transported by the rotation of the transport drum 10. The removing means 15 is designed such that an ampoule held in the pocket by the suction force of the decompression device 17 is automatically dropped at the removal point of the transport drum 10 by releasing the suction force by means of valve means 38 provided in the low-pressure chamber 22 of the transport drum 10. The valve means 38 comprises a valve plate 39 fixedly mounted on a fixed shaft 40 with a free end of said shaft 40 facing each passage 26 of the rotatory transport drum 10 at the removal point for stopping the suction force while the drive shaft 16 of the transport drum 10 is rotatably mounted on the fixed shaft 40 and the low pressure chamber 22 of the transport drum 10 is in connection with the decompression device 17 through an opening hole 41 and a conduit 42 provided within the fixed shaft 40.

With the above arrangement, as each ampoule A comes to the removal point, the valve means 38 cuts the connection between the low pressure chamber 22 and the passage 26 leading to the pocket 11 in which the ampoule A is being carried and, therefore, the ampoule A is thus no longer held by a suction force and falls freely from the pocket 11 into a holding pocket 43 formed in the undulate surface on a conveyor 44 which is situated below the transport drum at the removal point. It is of course possible to-speed up the removal of ampoules A from the transport drum 10 by a blast of compressed air moving them away from the transport drum 10 at the removal point. If this method is employed the direction of removal of ampoules A is opposite to the direction of the blast of compressed air.

Referring now to FIGS. 8 to 12, in which a third embodiment of the present invention is shown, the transfer roll arrangement is provided at a point adjacent to the outer path of the transport drum near the supply means in the same manner as in the first embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 5, and the removing means is provided at the removal point of the transport drum in the same manner as in the second embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7. However, the supply means 14" of this embodiment comprises a inclined plate 45 having a tilting end oriented toward the outer periphery of the transport drum 10 for transferring successive ampoules from the inclined plate 45 into the pockets ll of the transport drum 10'. Also, the transport drum 10 has a length in the axial direction greater than twice the length of the foregoing embodiment and the plurality of pockets 11' are sufficiently long to hold two ampoules A, A in a row therein. Two valve means 38, 46 are provided within the low pressure chamber, one (46) is used for shifting an ampoule A from the front row to the rear bank in cooperation with an air blasting means 47 and a stop 48, and the other (38) is provided for removing an ampoule A from the rear row of a pocket 11' in the same manner as in the second embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7.

The pocket 11' has an analogous structure to the pockets of the foregoing embodiment although it is designed to support to ampules in an end-to-end fashion. Specifically, the pocket 11' is composed of three portions, which are two end portions 24a, 24a and 24b, 24b and a central portion 25a and 25b for each ampoule respectively; each row is approximately equal to the external radius of an ampoule A held thereon, but each central portion 25a, 25b is slightly larger than the external radius of said ampoule A so that there is provided a slit S, S between the ampoule A and the central portion 25a, 25b, which is in communication with the low pressure chamber 22 of the transport drum 10' through the passage 26a, 26b. The arrangement for shifting an ampoule A from the front row to the rear bank in a pocket 11 includes the valve means 46 provided in the low pressure chamber 22 of the transport drum 10 for closing the passages 26a, 26b of two banks to release the suction force from an ampoule A, the air blasting means 47 situated in front of the front bank for pushing the released ampoule A backward with air under pressure, and the stopper 48 situated in back of the rear bank for stopping the pushing ampoule A on the rear bank. This valve means 46 comprises a valve plate 49 fixedly mounted on the fixed shaft with a free end thereof facing both passages 26a, 26b of the pocket 11 at the shifting point such that the ampoules A are held in the pocket 11' without the suction force.

With the above arrangement, ampoules A travel on the rotary transport drum 10' for almost two complete rotations, the first time on the front row of a pocket 11' and second time on the rear row of the pocket 11, and are removed in the same direction as that in which the ampoules are supplied. Each ampoule A is fed by the supply means 14" into the front row of a pocket 11, where it is held by the suction force acting through the passage 26a and, then, carried counterclockwise by the rotating transport drum 10' to the location of a transfer roll 13, from which it receives a printed impression, as illustrated in FIG. 10, in the same manner as in the foregoing embodiments, The ampoule A is then carried around to the location of the shifting arrangement at the top of the transport drum 10. When the ampoule A reaches this shifting point the suction force acting through the passages of the pocket 11' is cut by a blocking valve means 46, and air under pressure is blown out from the nozzle 50 of an air blasting means 47 and pushes the ampoule A from the front row to the rear bank of the pocket 11, as shown in FIG. 11. The stop 48 stops the ampoule A in a required position in the rear row.

The transport drum 10' continues to rotate counterclockwise and immediately after the ampoule A has passed the shifting arrangement, passages 26a, 26b of the pocket 11 carrying the ampoule A passes out of range of the valve plate 49 of the blocking valve means 46, so that once again suction force is applied through passages 26a, 26b to hold the ampoule A in the pocket 11'. The ampoule A held in the rear row of the pocket 11' is then carried around to the supply point again, where another ampoule A is fed into the front row of the pocket 11' by the supply means 14'. After this, the double-rows of ampoules A, A in the pocket 11' are carried to a removal point, which is on the opposite side of the transport drum 10 relative to the supply point. At the removal point the other blocking valve 38 cuts the suction force through the passage 261) leading to the rear bank of the pocket, and the rear ampoule A in the rear row automatically falls into the holding pocket 43 of the conveyor 44, which carries it to the next process, in the same manner as in the second em bodiment, so shown in FIG. 12, while the ampoule A in the front bank of the pocket 11 continues to be carried round by the transport drum 10, in the same manner as described above. This third embodiment of FIGS. 8 to 12 has advantages of providing a longer time for drying an ampoule A by means of suction air flowing over the ampoule A through the passage 26a, 26b, and supply and removal of ampoules A are both along the same line.

Although the present invention has been fully disclosed in conjunction with the various preferred embodiments thereof changes and modifications are apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, with the two-row ampoule-carrier pocket arrangement, as shown in the third embodiment of FIGS. 8 to 12, supposing there are n rows in a pocket, the means for transferring ampoules from the front to the rear row must function n times per rotation of the transport drum, and in time with the pockets coming into line; it is perfectly possible to provide such a means, as has been established experimentally. In any way, such changes and any modifications should be, unless they depart from the true scope and spirit of the present invention, construed as included therein.

What is claimed is:

l. A high speed printing apparatus for objects having a curved surface, an external radius, and a region whereon printing is to be performed, comprising:

a rotary hollow transport drum, the interior thereof being in communication with a pressure reduction means whereby the pressure within the interior of said rotary hollow transport drum may be reduced below atmospheric pressure, said rotary hollow transport drum having a plurality of pockets formed in the periphery thereof in parallel to its rotational axis, said pockets each having two curved end portions and a curved central portion intermediate said two end portions, the radius of each of said end portions being approximately equal to the external radius of said objects, and said central portion having a radius slightly larger than said radius and the distance between said end portions being longer than said region on said objects whereon printing is to be performed whereby an object will be positioned within a pocket in contact with said end portions and separated from said central portion, each of said pockets being in communication with the interior of said hollow transport drum through the central portions of said pockets whereby a suction force is created in said pockets due to the reduced pressure within said transport drum such that said objects are held within said pockets by the suction force, air flowing into the hollow transport drum through the central portion of said pockets in the region between said objects and said central portion of said pockets due to said suction force, said objects being able to rotate therein during a printing process;

a rotary transfer roll positioned adjacent the periphery of said rotary hollow transport drum for contacting and transferring printed information therefrom to objects being held in the pockets of said transport drum, said transfer roll operatively coupled to said transport drum and being rotated synchronously with the rotation of said transport drum, and said transfer roll contacting the objects being printed with sufficient pressure such that said objects rotate as information is transferred thereto, said objects having printing thereon being rotated by said transfer roller to face the central portion of said pockets, the printed information being rapidly dried by the air flowing into the hollow transport drum, due to the suction force, through the central portion of said pockets in the region between said objects and said central portion of said pockets; and

means operatively located for loading successive objects into the pockets of said transport drum for printing, and means operatively located for removing objects which have received the printed information thereon from the transfer roll from the pockets of the transport drum after the printed information dries.

2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said removing means includes a valve for intermittently terminating communication between the interior of said hollow transport drum and said pockets seriatim, thereby eliminating the suction force.

3. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, further includ ing a valvemeans operatively positioned for terminating communication between the interior of said hollow transport drum and the central portion of the pockets seriatim and means operatively positioned for blasting air at the object held in the pocket while the pocket is not communicating with the interior of the transport drum due to the action of the valve means for removing the object from its position in the pocket.

4. A high speed printing apparatus for objects having curved surfaces, external radii and a region whereon printing is to be performed comprising:

a rotary hollow transport drum, the interior thereof being in communication with a pressure reduction means whereby the pressure within the interior of said rotary hollow transport drum may be reduced below atmospheric pressure, said rotary hollow transport drum having a plurality of pockets formed in the periphery thereof in parallel to its rotational axis, having at least two positions and being of sufficient length to simultaneously accomodate at least two objects, a top object and a bottom object therein, said pockets each having two curved end portions and a curved central portion intermediate said two end portions, the radius of each of said end portions being approximately equal to the external radius of said objects and said central portion having a radius slightly larger than the radii of said end portions and a length longer than said region on said objects whereon printing is to be performed whereby an object will be positioned within a pocket in one position thereof in contact with said end portions and separated from said central portion, said pockets being in communication with the interior of said hollow transport drum through the central portions of said pockets in said at least two positions in each pocket for supporting said at least two objects whereby a suction force is created in said pocket due to the reduced pressure within said transport drum such that said objects are held within said pockets by the suction force, said objects being able to rotate therein;

a rotary transfer roll positioned adjacent the periphery of said rotary hollow transport drum for contacting and transferring printed information therefrom to one of the top andbottom objects being held in the pockets of said transport drum, said transfer roll operatively coupled to said transport drum and being rotated synchronously with the rotation of said transport drum and said transfer roll contacting the objects being printed with sufficient pressure such that said objects rotate as information is transferred thereto, each object being printed being rotated by said transfer roll to be facing the central portion of said pocket without printed information contacting the end portions of said transport drum whereby the printed information may be rapidly dried by air flowing into the hollow transport drum due to the suction force through the central portion of said pockets in the region between said object and said central portion of said pockets;

a first valve means operatively positioned for intermittently terminating communication between the interior of said hollow transport drum and both positions of said pockets seriatim thereby eliminating the suction force in said pockets seriatim; and

means operatively positioned for blasting air at said printed object when said first valve means terminates communication for shifting the object from the one position to the other of said positions in said pocket, and a second valve means operatively positioned for intermittently terminating communications between the interior of said hollow transport drum and at least one of the positions of said pockets seriatim for removing the objects therefrom. 

1. A high speed printing apparatus for objects having a curved surface, an external radius, and a region whereon printing is to be performed, comprising: a rotary hollow transport drum, the interior thereof being in communication with a pressure reduction means whereby the pressure within the interior of said rotary hollow transport drum may be reduced below atmospheric pressure, said rotary hollow transport drum having a plurality of pockets formed in the periphery thereof in parallel to its rotational axis, said pockets each having two curved end portions and a curved central portion intermediate said two end portions, the radius of each of said end portions being approximately equal to the external radius of said objects, and said central portion having a radius slightly larger than said radius and the distance between said end portions being longer than said region on said objects whereon printing is to be performed whereby an object will be positioned within a pocket in contact with said end portions and separated from said central portion, each of said pockets being in communication with the interior of said hollow transport drum through the central portions of said pockets whereby a suction force is created in said pockets due to the reduced pressure within said transport drum such that said objects are held within said pockets by the suction force, air flowing into the hollow transport drum through the central portion of said pockets in the region between said objects and said central portion of said pockets due to said suction force, said objects being able to rotate therein during a printing process; a rotary transfer roll positioned adjacent the periphery of said rotary hollow transport drum for contacting and transferring printed information therefrom to objects being held in the pockets of said transport drum, said transfer roll operatively coupled to said transport drum and being rotated synchronously with the rotation of said transport drum, and said transfer roll contacting the objects being printed with sufficient pressure such that said objects rotate as information is transferred thereto, said objects having printing thereon being rotated by said transfer roller to face the central portion of said pockets, the printed information being rapidly dried by the air flowing into the hollow transport drum, due to the suction force, through the central portion of said pockets in the region between said objects and said central portion of said pockets; and means operatively located for loading successive objects into the pockets of said transport drum for printing, and means operatively located for removing objects which have received the printed information thereon from the transfer roll from the pockets of the transport drum after the printed information dries.
 2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said removing means includes a valve for intermittently terminating communication between the interior of said hollow transport drum and said pockets seriatim, thereby eliminating the suction force.
 3. An apparatus as defined in claIm 1, further including a valve means operatively positioned for terminating communication between the interior of said hollow transport drum and the central portion of the pockets seriatim and means operatively positioned for blasting air at the object held in the pocket while the pocket is not communicating with the interior of the transport drum due to the action of the valve means for removing the object from its position in the pocket.
 4. A high speed printing apparatus for objects having curved surfaces, external radii and a region whereon printing is to be performed comprising: a rotary hollow transport drum, the interior thereof being in communication with a pressure reduction means whereby the pressure within the interior of said rotary hollow transport drum may be reduced below atmospheric pressure, said rotary hollow transport drum having a plurality of pockets formed in the periphery thereof in parallel to its rotational axis, having at least two positions and being of sufficient length to simultaneously accomodate at least two objects, a top object and a bottom object therein, said pockets each having two curved end portions and a curved central portion intermediate said two end portions, the radius of each of said end portions being approximately equal to the external radius of said objects and said central portion having a radius slightly larger than the radii of said end portions and a length longer than said region on said objects whereon printing is to be performed whereby an object will be positioned within a pocket in one position thereof in contact with said end portions and separated from said central portion, said pockets being in communication with the interior of said hollow transport drum through the central portions of said pockets in said at least two positions in each pocket for supporting said at least two objects whereby a suction force is created in said pocket due to the reduced pressure within said transport drum such that said objects are held within said pockets by the suction force, said objects being able to rotate therein; a rotary transfer roll positioned adjacent the periphery of said rotary hollow transport drum for contacting and transferring printed information therefrom to one of the top and bottom objects being held in the pockets of said transport drum, said transfer roll operatively coupled to said transport drum and being rotated synchronously with the rotation of said transport drum and said transfer roll contacting the objects being printed with sufficient pressure such that said objects rotate as information is transferred thereto, each object being printed being rotated by said transfer roll to be facing the central portion of said pocket without printed information contacting the end portions of said transport drum whereby the printed information may be rapidly dried by air flowing into the hollow transport drum due to the suction force through the central portion of said pockets in the region between said object and said central portion of said pockets; a first valve means operatively positioned for intermittently terminating communication between the interior of said hollow transport drum and both positions of said pockets seriatim thereby eliminating the suction force in said pockets seriatim; and means operatively positioned for blasting air at said printed object when said first valve means terminates communication for shifting the object from the one position to the other of said positions in said pocket, and a second valve means operatively positioned for intermittently terminating communications between the interior of said hollow transport drum and at least one of the positions of said pockets seriatim for removing the objects therefrom. 